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NORTH  CAROLINA 


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NORTH  CAROLINIANA 


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ADDRESS 


DELIVERED     BEFORE     THE 


a>siitiLiisr^mi:3©i?a© 


DIALECTIC   SOCIETIES, 


(SlUiilPISlL  mriLILd  S7o  (Po 


JUNE  26,  1833; 


BY  THE  HON.  GSORGK  E.  BADGER. 


9- 


RICHMOND  : 

Printed  by  Thomas  W.  White,  opposite  the  Bell  Tayern, 

1833. 


iilDID^BUi^^^ 


Gentlemen  of  the  Philanthropic  and  Dialectic  Societies: 

To  impart  instruction  to  the  young,  has,  in  every  age,  furnished  oc- 
cupation to  those  of  maturer  years ;  and  every  species  of  writing  has  been 
exhausted  in  precepts  to  prepare  them  for  the  conflict  with  temptations 
which  await  their  first  entrance  upon  manhood.  The  eye  of  friendly  so- 
licitude has  anticipated  the  scene  of  life — has  beheld  youth,  impetuous 
with  desire,  confident  of  strength,  and  buoyant  with  hope,  rushing  for- 
ward upon  a  path  beset  with  dangers,  of  which  the  greatest  are  unseen, 
or  thoughtlessly  despised  for  their  apparent  insignificance  ;  and  the 
lessons  of  wisdom,  taught  by  experience,  have  been  urged  with  all  the 
force  of  argument,  and  all  the  fervor  of  affection — with  every  variety  of 
illustration,  in  every  tone  of  remonstrance,  wliich  might  best  serve  to  ar- 
rest attention,  and  fix,  even  in  the  most  careless,  a  sense  of  approaching 
danger.  That  these  attempts  to  prepare  others  for  a  struggle,  of  the  na- 
ture of  which  they  are  ignorant,  are  worthy  of  all  commendation,  we 
must  all  concede ;  but  it  may  admit  of  serious  question  whether  they 
have  attained  to  any  great  success,  either  to  prevent  failure,  or  to  facilitate 
recoveiy.  It  is  not  perhaps  possible  so  to  epitomise  for  the  young  man 
the  experience  of  age,  as  to  send  liim  forth  in  early  wisdom  prepared  for 
the  trials  of  life  ;  and  in  the  art  of  livmg,  as  in  every  bi-anch  of  know- 
ledge, observation  will  justify  the  conclusion,  that  abridgments  can  only 
afford  hints  to  refresh  the  recollection  of  the  expert,  but  will  never  be  able 
to  confer  wisdom  upon  the  ignorant.  The  heaven-inspired  promise  of 
perseverance  in  rectitude,  is  not  made  to  occasional  warnmg  and  reproof, 
however  eloquent  and  earnest,  but  to  that  daily  instruction  which  blends 
knowledge  and  virtue  with  the  earliest  thoughts  and  associations  of  the 
mind,  till,  in  after  life,  they  shall  seem  instincts  of  natui-e  ratlier  than  ha- 
bits of  education.  Yet  we  are  not  justified  in  supposmg  these  occasional 
efforts  to  have  been  entirely  without  success.  On  tlie  contrary,  they  may 
afford,  and  probably  often  have  afforded,  aid  to  the  daily  lessons  of  the  fire- 
side and  the  seminary — have  served  by  their  novelty  to  awaken  an  atten- 


4 

tion  fatigued  by  sameness  of  instruction,  and  by  external  authority  to  give 
strength  to  domestic  admonition.  But  at  tliis  day,  the  difficulties  inherent 
in  every  effort  thus  to  speak  or  thus  to  write,  are  increased  an  hundred 
fold.  The  mind  of  man  is  still  studious  of  novelty,  and  pleased  with 
change.  But  in  addresses  to  the  young,  where  is  novelty  to  be  found  ? 
Of  matter,  no  where — and  amidst  all  the  diversities  of  illustration,  of 
style,  of  argument,  which  the  poet  and  the  essayist  have  successively  em- 
ployed to  give  variety  and  impressiveness  to  lessons  of  wisdom  for  youth, 
where  is  the  man  bold  enough  to  expect  any  novelty,  even  of  manner,  in 
the  delivery  or  enforcement  of  ancient  truths  ?  But  something  may  be 
hoped  of  attention,  of  respect,  and  of  indulgence,  for  one  who  does  not 
assume  the  attitude  of  a  moral  dictator,  but  comes  at  your  own  bidding  to 
address  you — comes,  not  only  aware  of  general  deficiency,  but  sensible  that 
circumstances  of  domestic  distraction,  have  denied  him  the  opportunity  to 
devote  entu'e  to  your  edification,  the  small  space  of  time  which  the  regu- 
lar demands  of  business  had  left  at  his  disposal — who,  under  these  disad- 
vantages, is  sincerely  desirous  to  be  useful  to  you,  and  to  discharge  hono- 
rably the  task  which  your  favorable  opmion  has  assigned  him.  At  all 
events,  whatever  difficiUties  inay  attend  the  effort  at  instruction,  I  cannot 
feel  justified  in  omitting  the  attempt.  That  the  issue  of  life  depends  or- 
dinarily upon  its  commencement,  experience  teaches ;  and  we  know  from 
revelation,  that  the  present  life,  compared  (as  it  aptly  is)  for  its  shortness 
and  uncertainty,  to  "  a  vajDor  which  appeareth  for  a  little  tune,  and  then 
vanisheth  away,"  yet  stretches  forward  its  influence  into  the  expanse  of 
eternal  existence.  No  opportimity,  therefore,  of  rightly  influencing  the 
outset  of  hfe,  can  be  innocently  neglected  ;  and  we  must  not  for  a  mo- 
ment imagine,  that  we  are  now  assembled  for  purposes  of  amusement,  or 
that  we  can  pass  from  ovu-  present  meeting  without  incvu-ring  some  re- 
sponsibihty  for  one  added  opportunity  of  improvement. 

In  the  first  place,  then,  let  me  impress  upon  you,  that  your  collegiate 
course  is  but  the  commencement  of  education — is  intended  not  so  much 
to  make  you  learned,  as  to  enable  you  to  become  so ;  and  that  notlting  is 
or  can  be  gained  in  the  few  years  of  i-esidence  here,  but  the  rudiments  of 
knowledge.  To  obtain  such  an  introduction  to  science  as  may  be  after- 
wards improved  into  a  full  acquaintance  with  her  riches,  demands  all  the 
diligence  of  tlie  student  during  a  college  life ;  but  when  a  college  life  is 
over,  to  permit  these  preliminary  acqtiirements  to  remain  unimproved,  is 


at  best,  voluntarily  to  forego  your  advantages,  and  ignobly  to  content 
yourselves  with  the  lowest  station  amongst  the  votaries  of  science.  But 
this  ground  even  cannot  be  retained  ;  you  must  press  on  or  recede.  As 
by  a  law  ajipHcablc  to  the  body,  new  supplies  of  food  and  oft  repeated 
application  to  healthfid  exercise,  are  necessary,  not  merely  to  its  increase 
but  to  its  existence  ;  so  what  the  mind  acquires  can  only  be  retained  by 
diligence  and  improvement ;  and  he  who  resolves  that  he  will  not  advance, 
has  already,  in  effect,  taken  the  first  step  of  retrogradation.  Fix  it  then 
as  certain,  that  you  cannot  stand  still ;  and  if  there  be  any  generous  de- 
sire of  excellence  in  your  bosoms — any  sense  of  duty  to  your  parents 
or  friends — any  grateful  remembrance  of  Him  who  is  the  ultimate  au- 
thor of  all  your  advantages  ;  resolve,  that  while  literatiu-e  or  science  has 
any  thing  to  be  gamed  without  neglectmg  the  duties  more  inmiediately 
yours  in  active  life,  you  will  continue  to  increase  yom-  store. 

It  has  been  often  remarked  by  foreigners,  and  may  be  easily  perceived 
by  ourselves,  that,  in  our  country,  men  are  not  in  any  department  of  so- 
ciety thoroughly  made  what  they  assiune  to  be.  We  seek  to  do  too  much 
in  a  short  tune  ;  and  yielding  to  our  wishes,  without  consulting  the  ne- 
cessities of  things,  we  affect  to  become  skilled  in  lea^riing,  in  science,  in 
the  professions,  and  in  the  mechanic  arts,  without  that  patient  applica- 
tion, by  which  only  any  thing  can  be  well  and  thoroughly  learned.  There 
are  many  causes  to  be  fomid  in  our  situation  and  institutions,  to  accoimt 
for  this,  but  it  certainly  exists,  and  as  certainly  has,  in  some  respects,  a 
mischievous  tendency.  We  are  not  as  literary  a  people  as  we  should  be. 
We  have  more  smatterers,  and  fewer  adepts,  than  other  nations ;  and  as  a 
necessary  consequence  of  the  want  of  thorough  instruction,  we  are  infla- 
ted with  self  consequence  at  what  we  deem  our  vast  attainments.  How 
often,  my  yomig  friends,  and  how  painfully  is  this  manifested  in  the  pro- 
ductions of  our  public  men  !  What  pompous  bombast — what  immeaning 
declamations — what  artificial  subtleties — what  gross  invective — what 
coarse  allusions — what  disgustu'ig  self  confidence,  defonn  the  oratory  (as 
it  is  called)  of  congress !  Of  all  the  weeks  which  are  yeai'ly  devoted  in 
that  body  to  the  delivery  of  speeches,  how  few  the  hom"s  which  are  not 
wasted !  Of  the  thousand  newspaper  columns  which  are  filled  with  reports 
of  these  speeches,  how  many  can  a  man  of  taste  read  without  disgust,  or 
a  patiiot  without  sorrow !  Attend  our  judicial  tribunals,  and  see  how  the 
gravity  of  jurisprudence  is  insulted  by  the  same  frothy,  loud,  inelegant. 


and  unintelligible  vociferations — observe  how  often  even  the  most  ordinary 
proprieties  of  language,  the  most  common  rules  of  grammar,  are  violated — 
so  often  and  so  grossly  indeed,  as  to  leave  no  doubt  that  the  violations 
proceed  from  ignorance  rather  than  inattention — yet,  scarce  a  public  meet- 
ing is  held  (and  when  and  where  are  tliey  not  held  ?)  from  an  assembly  at 
Faneuil  Hall,  to  a  separate  election  or  a  barbecue,  which  is  not,  according 
to  the  printed  reports  of  those  who  heard  and  acted  in  them,  enlightened 
and  electrified  by  eloquence  surpassing  that  of  Tully  or  Demosthenes ! 
In  short,  deficient  as  we  are,  all  our  people  are  prodigies — learning  is  to 
be  found  in  every  hamlet,  literature  in  every  covmtry  store,  and  oratory 
in  every  debating  room.  In  the  mean  time,  there  is  nothing  m  the  public 
taste  and  inteUigence,  to  rebuke  and  put  to  shame,  this  empty  swelling, 
this  "  sound  and  fury  signifying  nothing."  Those  who  see  and  lament 
the  evil  are  not  of  sufficient  number  or  authority  to  control  public  opinion. 
The  people  at  large  are  pleased  with  the  speakers  and  writers,  who,  if  in- 
telligible in  nothing  else,  are  sufficiently  so  in  the  descriptions  of  idolatrous 
worship  to  the  intelligence  and  virtue  of  the  people,  and  in  public  profes- 
sions of  their  own  disinterested  devotion  to  the  general  welfare.  In  this 
state  of  things,  it  will  i-equii-e  no  small  effort  in  a  young  man,  on  his  en- 
trance into  life,  to  continue  a  due  attention  to  literature,  to  persevere  amidst 
the  pleasures  and  the  engagements  which  surround  him,  in  preserving  what 
he  has  already  attained,  and  still,  as  opportunities  occvxr,  adding  to  his 
stock.  He  sees  the  highest  stations  attainaljle  and  attained,  not  only 
without  learning,  but  with  little  sense ;  and,  sickening  at  the  irksomeness 
of  study  without  i-eward,  is  apt  to  exclaim,  why  should  I  not  content  my- 
self with  that  mediocrity  of  attainment,  by  which,  with  confidence  and 
vociferation,  so  many  have  succeeded,  and  which  seems  the  surest,  as  it 
is  the  easiest,  mode  of  advancement  ?  To  this  inquky,  it  may  be  an- 
swered, that  knowledge  is  of  itself  desirable,  and  should  be  pursued  even 
for  its  own  sake — for  the  dignity  and  happiness  which  it  brings  to  its  pos- 
sessor ;  that  though  many  succeed  in  acquuing  fame  and  opulence  with- 
out classical  attainments,  yet  these  offer  no  hindrance  to  the  acquisition  of 
either ;  and  it  is  not  recommended  that  they  be  pursued  in  exclusion  of, 
but  in  connexion  with,  and  as  auxiliaiy  to,  the  practical  employments  of 
life.  In  these,  you  should  be  desii-ous  (as  what  youth  of  noble  aspu-ings 
is  not)  to  do  well  whatever  you  do,  so  that  with  the  applause  of  those  who 
may  be  able  to  advance  you,  you  may  have  in  your  favor  the  sentence  of 


nil  whose  worLli  and  inlcUigcncc  make  their  approbation  a  gralityiiiL? 
assiu-ance  of  kindred  excellence  in  yourselves.  But  wc  liave  proof  by 
example,  that  though  the  highest  accomphslimcnts  of  literature  may  not 
conduce  to  a  speedy  elevation  in  the  political  world,  or  win  the  noisy 
plaudits  of  the  crowd  ;  yet  they  do  lend  an  ultunate  and  irresistible 
weight  to  genius  and  learning,  and  command  for  tlieir  possessor  a  noble 
and  endui-ing  superiority.  Of  this,  no  more  conspicuous  instance  can  be 
produced  than  the  distinguished  gentleman*  who  addressed  you  at  the 
last  commencement.  He,  amidst  all  the  occupations  of  private,  profes- 
sional and  public  life,  has  ever  remembered  the  pursuits  of  liis  alma  mater ; 
has  kept  bright  by  constant  exercise,  all  tlie  mental  armoury  wliich  early 
education  had  bestowed,  and,  instead  of  suffering  liis  classical  knowledge 
to  decay,  has  been  always  enlarging  his  acquirements:  and  he  now  reaps 
the  reward  of  liis  early  labors  and  consistent  efforts  in  a  real  efRciency, 
an  acknowledged  superiority — of  which,  any  of  us,  my  friends,  might  well 
be  proud.  When,  therefore,  you  shall  be  tempted  to  self-indulgence,  and 
see  men,  by  art  or  fortime,  rising  into  prematiue  elevation  without 
classical  learning, — when  you  shall  see  men  of  real  abilities,  worth  and 
usefulness,  justly  honored,  though  without  these  literary  embellishments, — 
be  not  led  to  conclude  them  valueless.  While  you  learn  to  think  them 
not  indispensable  either  to  merit  or  success,  at  the  same  time  remember 
that  literatiu-e  gives  to  professional  talent  all  its  elegance  and  half  its  effi- 
ciency ;  and  that  to  emulate  the  fame  and  reach  the  eminence  of  the  gen- 
tleman to  whom  I  have  just  alluded,  you  must  be  not  only  profound  in 
your  acquirements,  but  various,  acute  and  graceful. 

The  evils  of  an  imperfect  education  to  a  professional  man,  none  can 
know  but  he  who  has  felt  them*  In  tlie  legal  profession,  how  often  is  the 
careless  student  reminded  of  liis  deficiencies  ?  How  much  gracefulness  of 
allusion — how  much  power  of  argument — how  much  felicity  of  illustra- 
tion are  lost  to  liim !  how  lie  longs  to  be  able  to  call  up  and  give  distinct- 
ness to  recollections  which  yet  elude  liun,  and  how  bitterly  he  laments 
over  the  early  indolence  wliich  condemns  him  to  mediocrity,  and  feels  that 
liis  powers  have  never  been  developed,  and  that  he  will  never  be  what  he 
might  and  ought  to  have  been,  either  in  reputation  or  desert !  Let  not 
these  repinmgs  ever  be  yoiu'S.     Now,  you  hold  your  own  destiny— now, 

*  William  Gaston,  Esquire,  of  Newbcru. 


8 

the  opportunities  of  excellence  are  all  in  possession  or  in  prospect.  You 
may  either  impi-ove  or  neglect  them — make  them  means  of  usefulness,  or 
memorials  of  criminal  indifference  and  neglect.  Do  not  hesitate ;  much 
often  depends  upon  the  resolutions  of  a  moment :  resolve,  nmc,  that  you 
■will  be  learned,  accomplished,  literary — that  you  will  not  be  content  while 
you  still  have  something  useful  to  acquh-e,  and  that  no  allurements  of  plea- 
sure, no  love  of  ease,  no  indolence,  shall  ever  induce  you  to  lose  the  advan- 
tage of  your  opportunities,  either  by  negligence  of  study  now,  or  inatten- 
tion to  learning  hereafter.  There  is  another  consideration  which  should 
urge  upon  you  this  resolution.  If  the  day  of  florid  bombast  and  coarse 
abuse  is  ever  to  give  way  to  tlie  reign  of  chaste  and  dignified  eloquence — 
if  the  literary  taste  of  the  country  generally  is  ever  to  be  improved,  this 
must  be  accomplished  by  the  vmited  influence  of  the  educated  classes ;  and 
by  them  it  can  only  be  accomplished  by  the  study  of  classical  antiquity, 
and  the  best  specimens  of  modern  literature — by  diligence  to  gain, 
and  care  to  retain  knowledge — by  assiduous  efforts  to  do  every  thing  in 
the  best  manner,  and  a  steady  resolution  to  discountenance  emjDty  preten- 
sions, and  to  encourage  real  merit.  By  these  means,  an  influence  may  go 
forth  upon  the  people  which  shall  elevate  the  national  taste,  and  by  estab- 
lishing a  higher  standard  of  excellence,  dismiss  to  obsciu-ity  those  who 
have  not  ability  to  be  useful,  and  compel  to  its  improvement  those  who 
have.  You,  gentlemen,  form  a  portion  of  that  literary  class,  and  your 
efforts  may  be  felt  throughout  the  union,  if  met  by  correspondmg  efforts 
from  other  quarters,  and  upon  this  State  may  have  a  most  salutary  effect, 
even  without  such  co-operation.  Let  me,  then,  entreat  you,  by  all  these 
considerations  united,  to  resolve  upon  a  thorough  education ;  to  believe  and 
feel,  that  to  neglect  here  any  one  opportunity  of  gaining  knowledge,  is  sin 
against  yourselves  and  your  country ;  and  that  after  you  shall  have  left 
this  seminary,  to  sit  down  in  contented  mediocrity — to  make  no  improve- 
ment of  your  modicum  of  learning — to  be  at  the  beginnmg  of  life  but 
half  scholars,  and  daily  to  become  less,  will  be,  at  once,  a  mean  desertion 
of  duty,  and  a  voluntary  indifference  to  true  glory. 

The  resolute  piu'suit  of  study  which  I  have  thus  reconrmiended,  will 
strongly  tend  to  repress  tliat  self  conceit,  wliich  upon  small  attainments 
is  apt  to  rise  in  the  mind,  and  to  substitute  that  true  modesty  which  is 
generally  tlie  companion  of  large  acquirements  in  solid  leai-ning.  It  has 
been  sometimes  made  a  question,  whether  to  think  too  little  or  too  much 


of  oiu-sclves,  be  llie  preferable  error ;  and  it  has  been  deteiTnined,  I  tliink 
upon  just  grounds,  that  vanity  is  to  be  preferred  to  despondency.     By 
study,  both  these  errors  will  be  prevented  or  overcome,  and  we  shall  soon 
be  enabled  (which  all  admit  to  be  best)  to  think  of  om-selves  justly.     It 
is  the  sense  of  vast  present  possessions  that  tends  to  vanity  ;  it  is  the 
fear  of  want  of  capacity  for  acquiring,  that  produces  despondency :  You 
will  be  guarded  against  both,  by  a  just  estmiate  of  yotu-selves.     Yom* 
actual,  will  always  be  small  in  comparison  with  your  possible,  attain- 
ments :  you  will  always,  in  fact,  know  less  than  you  might  and  ought 
to  know  ;  less  than  many  others  have  attained  without  your  advantages : 
and  this  duly  considered,  will  make  you  modest.     On  the  other  hand, 
the  more  you  try  your  powers,  the  more  you  will  be  assured  that  nature 
deals  liberally  with  men  ;  that,  in  general,  aside  from  some  pecuUar 
developements  for  which  a  natvu-al  aptitude  or  tact  is  demanded,  all  in 
itself  desirable,  may  be  attained  by  industry.     Your  approach  to  men  of 
eminence  whom  you  may  have  regarded  at  a  distance  with  awe,  will  shew 
you  the  original  equality  ;    and,  though  you  may  be  at  times  oppressed 
at  an  amount  of  acquisition,  wliich  will  to  you  appear  great,  you  will 
soon  find  it  to  be  an  acquisition  arising  from  no  imiate  sujoeriority,  but 
carefully  collected  by  little  and  little,  and  by  the  same  process  ecpially 
attainable  by  yom'selves.     When  we  see  a  young  man  inflated  with  a 
sense  of  his  great  attainments,  or  presiuning  upon  a  genius  which  renders 
effort  to  him  unnecessary — urging  himself  forward  with  placid  self-com- 
placency— imagining  hunself  the  object  of  universal  approbation,  while 
in  trath,  he  is  provoking  the  scorn  of  tlie  wise,  and  touching  the  pity  of 
the  good — we  have  no  difficulty  in  assigning  his  vanity  to  self-ignorance. 
And  so,  when  a  young  man  is  appalled  at  what  is  before  liim,  and  des- 
pairs of  ever  attaining  to  excellence  or  distinction,  we  may  with  equal 
certainty  trace  his  want  of  confidence  to  want  of  knowledge  of  liimself. 
By  a  correct  estimate  of  yourselves,  you  will  learn  a  modesty  which 
must  keep  you  from  presimiption,  and  a  confidence  which  will  ever  pre- 
serve you  from  despair'.    Believe  that  by  industry  and  perseverance  you 
can  do  all  things,  and  you  will  accomplish  much  :  but  feel  not  elated  at 
what  you  can  do — for  the  capacity  is  a  gift,  and  can  in  no  sort  be  meri- 
torious ;  its  improvement  only,  is  a  just  fomidation  of  self-complacency. 
To  be  able  to  do,  is  to  this  purpose  nothing ;  to  do,  is  every  thing. 
Deficiency  in  itself  is  nusfortune  only,  but  accompanied  with  genius, 
2 


10 

becomes  crime ;  and  yet,  nothing  is  more  common,  than  to  find  the  mind 
inflated  with  self-consequence  at  the  possession  of  powers  unimproved, 
and  though  voluntarily  condemned  to  obscurity  and  uselessness,  yet 
filled  with  visions  of  possible  imi^ortance  and  imagijiary  glory.  Distinc- 
tion founded  on  worth,  must  ever  be  the  result  of  exertion ;  and  by  a 
process,  beautiful  as  it  is  useful,  distinction  thus  acquired,  fills  the  pos- 
sessor with  modest  conceptions  of  himself.  Of  this,  the  most  instructive 
and  illustrious  example  is  found  in  the  great  Newton.  After  all  those 
mighty  discoveries,  which  enlightened  and  astonished  mankind,  and 
while  to  others  he  appeared  the  intellectual  prodigy  of  the  universe, — to 
liimself  he  seemed  but  to  have  sported  on  the  shore  of  knowledge,  and 
to  have  left  the  boundless  ocean  itself  not  only  unexplored  but  unat- 
tempted.  Such  must  ever  be  the  result  of  genuine  devotion  to  science  ; 
and  if,  my  young  friends,  you  shall  find,  during  your  collegiate  course,  or 
in  after  life,  any  risings  of  vanity  at  your  powers  and  attaimnents,  let 
the  remembrance  of  Newton,  rebuke  into  just  insignificance,  every  eflfort 
of  self-exultation. 

But  you  are  under  yet  higher  obligations  to  presei-ve  and  enlarge  your 
literary  acquirements — to  learn  every  tiling  which  may  add  strength  to 
the  reasoning  powers,  and  grace  and  attractiveness  to  style  and  delivery. 
The  present  is,  every  where,  and  no  where  more  than  in  our  own  coun- 
try, a  peculiar  era.  The  press  is  just  beginning  fuUy  to  develope  its 
mighty  influence  on  our  nation.  Science,  no  longer  confined  in  solid 
volmnes  to  well  stored  libraries,  or  making  quarterly  visits  in  the  thick 
pamphlets  of  learned  criticism,  now  condescends  to  speak  in  weekly  and 
even  daily  sheets ;  and  thus  addresses  herself  to  large  masses  of  men 
heretofore  beyond  her  reach.  Literature,  religion,  science,  have  now, 
like  politics,  seized  upon  the  daily  press ;  and  taste,  doctrine  and  know- 
ledge, are  m-ged  vipon  the  world  in  ever  multiplying  periodicals.  What 
is  to  be  the  ultimate  effect  of  this  new  direction  given  to  the  march  of 
mind — whether  this  fectmdity  of  the  press,  this  stripping  off  the  dignity 
of  learning,  and  letting  down  science  to  the  level  of  a  penny  paper,  will 
not  issue  in  a  serious  injmy  to  society — it  is  not  necessary  to  inquire. 
It  has  been  thought  by  intelligent  and  observing  men,  that  the  certain,  if 
not  the  first  effect  of  this  state  of  things,  will  be,  to  lessen  the  standard  of 
writing  abilities — to  put  in  request  a  tact  for  writing  acceptably,  rather 
than  writing  well,— for  the  pleasant  and  superficial,  rather  than  the  labo- 


11 

rious  and  profound  ;  and  tliu.s,  in  the  next,  gvncratiiin,  to  fill  the  v.-orld 
witli  ignorant  jirclendcrs,  who  will  sip  from  the  surface,  Init  drink  not, 
from  the  fountain  of  knowledge  :  that  deep  learning,  being  no  longer  in 
demand,  will  shrink  into  obscurity.     There  are  others,  however,  who 
seem  to  think,  that  provided  many  read,  it  is  no  matter  what — that  if  all 
know  many  things,  it  is  an  important  gain,  though  none  know  any  thing 
well :  and  they  are  jileased,  of  com'se,  with  tlie  prospect  of  a  general 
diffusion,  even  of  horn  book  science.     But,  whatever  may  be  the  effect 
of  this  rags  for  books  in  the  literary  departments,  no  man  of  even  mode- 
rate intelligence,  can  doubt  as  to  the  mischievous  effects  already  pro- 
duced, nov/  jjroducing,  and  in  fearful  prospect  of  being  jjroduced,  by  the 
25olitical  press.     In  the  party  conflicts  of  the  day,  a  sj^irit  of  falsehood,  of 
defamation,  of  indecent  scurrility,  and  shameful  corruption,  has  gone  forth 
upon  the  editorial  corps.     Once,  men  were  divided  on  matters  of  prin- 
ciple, or  what  were  sujiposed  matters  of  princijjle  :  papers  on  different 
sides  nught  be  relied  upon,  as  presenting  the  views  of  intelligent  portions 
of  our  public  men  ;  and  if  facts  were  disputed,  there  was  an  attempt  to 
reach  the  truth,  or  at  least  a  decent  pretension  to  it.     But  now,  every 
thing  seems  reduced  to  a  mere  scramble  for  emolument :  the  credulity 
of  the  people  has  been  so  often  jDractised  upon  with  success,  that  scarce 
any  care  is  used  to  conceal  the  artifice  of  deception  from  the  purblind- 
ness  of  the  public  :  and  it  is  lamentable  to  remark,  that  even  the  moral 
sense  of  the  community  has  become  corrupt  and  vitiated,  and  defiimation 
the  most  atrocious,  is  sm-e  to  obtain  toleration,  if  not  a2oproval.     Mean- 
time, a  sjjii-it  of  insubordination  is  by  some  openly  taught  and  recom- 
mended ;  and  passion,  and  interest,  and  prejudice,  are  aj^pealed  to,  in 
order  to  raise  discontent,  and  j^roduce  oj^position  against  the  laws.     It  is 
not  necessary  to  be  more  specific  :  facts  are  too  recent  and  too  appalling. 
But,  does  not  this  state  of  things  call  upon  you  for  increased  diligence  to 
qualify  yourselves  for  rendering  effectual  service  to  your  country  ?     If 
public  taste,  much  more  public  morals,  require  for  their  reformation,  the 
exertions  of  the  enlightened  and  vii-tuous,  the  delusions  that  have  gone 
abroad  must  be  met  and  dissijiated  ;  the  press  must  be  corrected  ;  it  must 
be  transferred  to  the  direction  of  able  and  upright  men  :  and  the  people 
(though  well  meaning,  yet  easily  misled,)  must  be  guarded  agamst  those 
artifices,  by  which  it  is  sought  to  array  them  against  theii-  own  peace  and 
happiness,  and  to  involve  them  in  the  stupendous  guilt  and  folly  of  pros- 


12 

trating  the  last  structure,  which  can  be  raised  Ijy  man  for  tlie  preser\-a- 
tion  of  equal  rights  by  republican  institulions.     But  to  do  this,  you  must 
youi'selves   be  enlightened ;  you  must  be  no  novices :  your  reasoning 
powers  must  be  perfected  in  strength  and  dexterity,  by  constant  and 
healthful  exercise :  your  minds  must   be  stored  with  every  variety  of 
knowledge,  to  instruct  or  to  please.     And  thus  prepared,  you  must  bear 
in  mind  yoiu-  high  duties,  and  the  large  destinies  which  may  be  influ- 
enced by  your  exertions  :  you  must  be  the  true  friends  of  the  people  ; 
teaching  them  to  see  and  to  despise  the  efforts  of  those  who  would  mis- 
lead them — you  must  be  prepared,  should  circmustances  require,  to  strip 
the  mask  of  patriotism  from  ambition,  and  show  his  horrid  features  to 
the  detestation  of  mankind  ;  and  to  teach,  both  by  your  example  and 
your  precepts,  a  voluntary,  steady,  and  universal  submission  to  the  laws. 
It  is  certain,  that  the  talents  of  a  country,  if  generally  united  in  one  pur- 
pose, will  bend  public  opinion  to  it,  be  it  good  Or  evil  ;  that  through  the 
press,  talents  must  ojDerate  on  public  opinion  ;  and  that,  therefore,  society 
has  a  deep  interest  in  the  maintenance  of  a  body  of  intelligent  and  honest 
writers.     They  stand,  in  truth,  as  sentinels  on  the  walls  of  liberty,  and 
give  an  alarm  at  the  approach  of  danger,  and  only  at  its  approach.    The 
profligacy  or  inadequacy  of  a  large  majority  of  the  conductors  of  the 
press,  is  evident  to  all  who  look  into  the  daily  news  ;  and  it  cannot  admit 
of  doubt,  that  much  of  public  evil  may  be  traced  to  this  cause.     Until 
men  of  standing  and  literature,  in  considerable  numbers,  shall  devote 
themselves  to  the  press,  and  all  shall  become,  as  emergency  requires, 
occasional  contributors,  the  evil  must  be  endured.    But  why  should  it  be 
so  ?  The  press  is  the  most  important  means  of  influencing  opinion  m  a 
country  where  opinion  is  irresistible :  why,  then,  should  this  mighty 
power  be  allowed,  without  a  struggle,  to  fall  into  hands  generally  inade- 
quate in  abiUty,  or  disqualified  by  corrtiption  ?  Let  these  things  have 
their  due  weight,  and  the  next  generation  may  see  a  mighty  change 
accomplished. 

But,  in  order  to  this  result,  each  one  must  realize  that  he  has  some- 
thing himself  to  do,  and  must  resolve  to  do  it.  He  must  feel,  that  upon 
him  individually,  rests  a  portion  of  the  duty  of  arresting  false  opinions, 
and  comiteracting  practices  injurious  m  their  tendency,  whether  they  be 
the  result  of  wicked  or  of  mistaken  designs.  He  must  be  prepared  at 
all  times,  and  in  all  situations,  to  maintain  the  cause  of  truth,  order  and 


13 

happiness,  against  every  opposer.  He  will  find,  in  the  same  ranks,  men 
of  genius  urging  on  the  cause  of  disaffection  ;  some  careless,  and  some 
mistaken,  in  respect  to  their  country's  good ;  and  some,  alas  !  despe- 
rately bent  upon  commotion,  and  resolute  for  mischief:  he  will  find  men 
of  the  most  amiable  tempers  and  sound  morals,  seduced  from  their  natural 
station  on  the  side  of  true  liberty  and  glory,  and  pursuing  some  deceitful 
phantom  in  their  stead  :  intimate  friends,  the  associates  of  youthful 
days  or  early  manhood,  may  thus  separate  between  his  soul  and  them- 
selves. What  is  to  be  done  ?  Shall  he  hesitate  in  his  coiu-se,  while  he 
sees  them  urging  (from  whatever  motives)  a  cause  adverse  to  all  govern- 
ment ?  a  cause  whicli  resolves  itself,  despite  of  all  its  nice  and  unintelli- 
gible distinctions,  into  a  complete  overthrow  of  the  public  will,  and  the  sub- 
stitution of  the  very  elements  of  confusion  and  anarcliy.  While  he  sees 
these  things,  can  a  friend  to  his  country  and  to  truth  hesitate  in  his  course? 
He  cannot.  When  genius,  Ijy  its  fascinations,  misleads  even  good  sense 
and  sound  morals  into  disorganization,  the  danger  becomes  rn-gent,  and 
demands  tlie  more  vigorous  interference  for  public  preservation.  You 
must  feel  yourselves,  gentlemen,  by  your  position  and  political  pri- 
vileges, called  always  to  battle  for  sound  doctrine.  Your  good  sense,  if 
plainly  exercised,  will  teach  you  that  no  doctrine  can  be  sound,  which 
does  not  lead  to  wholesome  practice  ;  no  government  free,  which  is  liable 
to  dictation  ;  and  no  people  long  happy,  who  are  led  by  demagogues. 
And  you  will  have  no  great  difficulty  m  determinmg,  that  those,  whose 
declared  and  written  opinions,  uttered  with  all  the  fire  of  eloquence,  aJid 
the  solemnity  of  apparent  smcerity,  may  be  found  on  every  side  of  most 
important  questions,  who  have  acted  as  if  all  power  in  their  own  hands 
was  rightful — in  the  hands  of  others,  usurpation  ;  who,  m  the  midst  of 
these  suspicious  contradictions  in  conduct  and  opinion,  have  ever  confi- 
dently demanded  the  support  of  the  nation,  and  have  not  hesitated  to- 
day to  ask  assent  to  positions  directly  opposite  to  others  as  strenuously 
maintained  yesterday  :  you  will,  I  say,  easily  determhie,  that  such  men, 
if  not  very  unfaithful,  are  at  least  very  incompetent  guides,  and  deny 
tliem  your  confidence.  You  wDl  readily  vuiderstand,  when  questions 
arise  upon  the  meaning  of  the  fvuidamental  law,  that  the  sense  put  upon 
it  from  the  commencement  of  its  operation — a  sense  for  years  unques- 
tioned— never  questioned  but  by  excited  or  interested  portions  of  the 
people — and  uniting  in  its  support  the  clear  and  concurring  judgment  of 


14 

the  legislature,  the  executive,  and  the  judiciary  of  the  union — you  will 
readily  perceive,  that  this  exposition  (whatever  it  be)  so  sanctioned  by 
opinion  and  practice,  must  be  the  true  one,  or  else  that  all  attemps  at 
exposition  are  vain,  and  society  must  be  dissolved.  Nor  will  you  be 
misled  by  subtle  doctrines,  couched  in  language  unusual  and  unintelligi- 
ble to  plain  men — which  no  one  can  explain,  however  he  may  affect  to 
understand  ;  and  you  will  firmly  repel  every  effort  to  arm  you,  upon  no 
better  foundation  than  vociferation  and  paradox,  against  the  ordinary 
laws  and  judges  of  property.  Despite  of  these  and  other  arts,  you  will 
hold  fast  your  integrity  ;  you  will  realize,  tliat  peace,  domestic  tran- 
quillity, and  regular  tribunals  to  administer  laws,  are  objects  of  great 
value,  however  underrated  they  may  be, — that  it  is  quite  possible  for  a 
people  not  to  be  prosperous  and  happy,  though  blessed  with  ceaseless 
agitation ;  that  mobs  may  err  in  opinion  and  in  practice ;  and  that  those 
who  most  loudly  urge  internal  dissension,  are  often  men  to  whom  any 
change  will  be  desirable ;  and  therefore,  you  will  be  always  found  on  the 
side  of  the  laws  and  the  constitution.  The  jargon,  indeed,  by  which  it  is 
attempted  to  transfer  to  poUtics  the  unpracticable  speculations  of  the 
most  abstruse  portions  of  metaphysics,  can  be  only  exceeded  in  folly,  by 
the  pompous  political  declamations,  the  solemn  processions,  and  the  ora- 
tory of  the  human  race,  which  marked  the  first  French  revolution  :  and 
from  considering  that  era,  you  may  learn  a  irseful  lesson — that,  when  the 
order  of  society  is  broken  up,  and  men  are  forced  out  of  that  sphere  of 
daily  duties  for  which  providence  designed  them,  sententious  morality, 
however  lofty,  is  no  security  against  crime  ;  and  that  there  is  but  one 
step,  and  that  a  short  one,  between  theoretical  absurdity,  and  the  practi- 
tical  cruelty  of  the  mob. 

With  the  opinions  which  I  entertain,  I  cannot  conclude  this  address 
without  calling  your  attention  to  another  subject,  which,  as  it  is  the  most 
important  to  you,  ought  not  from  any  deference  to  the  caprice  of  fasiiion, 
to  be  omitted  here.  I  wish  to  urge  upon  your  consideration,  the  claims 
of  the  Christian  Revelation.  Unless  grounded  upon  this,  every  system  for 
the  government  of  life  must  not  only  be  incomplete  but  radically  defec- 
tive. It  is  tliis  only  wliich  gathers  into  one,  and  invigorates  with  the 
energy  of  a  single  controlUng  motive,  all  the  detached  rules  of  conduct, 
and  gives  harmony,  strength  and  beauty,  to  the  whole.  That  you  should 
in  theory  reject  it,  or  even  be  skeptical  touching  the  truth  of  Christianity, 


15 

is  not  readily  to  be  supposed.  Such  a  state  of  mind,  if  it  exist,  is  pro- 
bably no  more  than  a  youthful  vanity  of  opposition ;  and  yet  it  is  dano-e- 
rous,  and  ouglit  not  to  be  indulged.  Opinions,  for  whatever  purpose 
assumed,  when  often  expressed,  acquire  a  certain  influence  (iver  the 
mind  ;  and  when  supported  with  the  zeal  and  animation  of  frequent  con- 
troversy, aUhough  at  first  solely  to  signalize  dexterity  in  argument,  at 
last  grow  into  a  habit  of  thought  nearly  akin  in  its  effects  to  actual 
belief.  At  all  events,  the  sacrifice  of  sincerity  to  a  love  of  display 
or  desire  of  triumph,  cannot  Ijut  have  an  unhappy  effect  upon  the  cha- 
racter— duninishing  the  regard  for  truth,  and  the  ability  to  discern  it. 
But  the  rejection  of  Christianity,  or  even  scepticism  concerning  it,  can  be 
only  the  result  of  want  of  consideration.  Let  me,  then,  urge  upon  you, 
a  diligent  examination  of  the  grounds  of  our  faith.  It  fears,  it  need  fear, 
no  examination,  however  strict,  which  is  full,  fair  and  inteUigent.  Such 
an  examination,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say,  will  result  in  entire  conviction. 
But  those  who  reject,  do  not  generally  examine  ;  or,  if  any  examination 
be  made,  it  is  after  the  rejection,  and  chiefly  with  a  view  to  confirm  the 
previous  decision.  To  men  unaccustomed  to  investigation,  and  either 
obliged  by  mcapacity,  or  inclined  by  indolence,  to  take  their  opinions 
from  others,  such  conduct  may  be  natm'al ;  but  the  great  principle  of 
true  philosophy  is  to  submit  to  reason,  to  subject  every  matter  to  careful 
inquiry,  and  to  judge  of  every  fact  by  its  pi-oper  evidence.  Had  tliis 
rule  of  good  sense,  adopted  in  every  other  department  of  science,  been 
applied  to  Christianity  (as  in  all  fairness  it  ought)  universal  faith  must 
have  been  the  consequence.  But  it  is  much  easier  to  cavil  than  to  rea- 
son ;  a  laborious  deduction  from  particulars,  though  a  sure,  is  a  slow 
process  for  the  discovery  of  truth  ;  and  hence  a  ready  and  compendious 
method  has  been  adopted,  to  dispose  of  Christianity,  without  the  trouble 
to  investigate  its  evidence  or  consider  its  clauns.  Argmments  a  priori  (if 
arguments  they  may  be  called)  have  been  brought  forward ;  ingenious 
criticism,  superficial  learnmg,  and  above  all,  delicate  ridicule  for  the 
refined,  and  coarse  ribaldry  for  the  vulgar,  have  been  made  the  means  to 
unsettle  the  faith  of  men  capable  of  better  things  ;  while,  all  along,  the 
question  of  Christianity,  as  a  question  of  fact  to  be  tried  by  a  fair  and 
dispassionate  examination  of  its  proofs,  has  been  overlooked  or  forgotten. 
Hence,  at  times,  it  has  been  fashionable  to  speak,  or  at  least  to  think,  of 
our  religion,  as  the  fit  solace  of  old  wives  and  ignorant  mechanics,  but 


16 

little  worthy  the  attention  of  the  learned  and  polite.  Hence,  with  too 
many,  it  has  become  fashionable  to  reject  tliis  religion  :  a  religion,  which, 
for  eighteen  hundi-ed  years,  has  exercised  a  controlling  influence  over  the 
affairs  of  mankind  ;  which,  with  all  the  evils  made  to  accompany  it,  by 
the  vice  and  folly  of  its  professed  votaries,  has,  by  its  own  energy,  ele- 
vated the  character  of  man  wherever  it  has  come  ;  which  has  subdued 
the  violence,  enlarged  the  benevolence,  and  increased  the  happiness,  of 
the  human  race  ;  wluch  has  numbered  amongst  its  friends  and  support- 
ers, those  most  distinguished  for  high  mental  endowments  ;  and  which 
proves  itself  worthy  of  all  acceptation,  by  the  pure  and  elevated  morality 
it  teaches — a  morality,  which,  though  often  sought  for,  the  wit  of  man 
could  never  discover,  and  yet,  when  disclosed,  is  found  to  be  so  exactly 
adapted  to  the  wants  of  our  race,  that  we  wonder  it  was  not  discovered 
by  the  first  seeker — a  moraUty,  which  no  man  can  fail  to  perceive,  if 
universally  practised,  would  at  once  banish  moral  evil  from  the  world, 
render  physical  evil  inconsiderable,  and  restore  the  golden  age  of  virtue 
and  happiness  to  mankind.  A  reUgion,  so  ancient  and  so  beneficially 
influential,  so  attested  and  so  recommended,  is  not,  without  great  folly 
and  guilt,  to  be  rejected  without  inquiry  :  with  inquiry  there  is  little  fear 
of  its  rejection.  Let  it  be  tried  either  by  its  external  proofs,  its  internal 
character,  or  the  number  and  value  of  the  testimonies  to  its  truth ;  and 
it  will  manifest  its  title  to  a  heavenly  origin.  You  would  feel  ashamed, 
tliat  any  department  of  science  were  entirely  unknown  to  you,  and 
would  blush  to  own,  that  on  a  literary  question  of  mere  curiosity,  you 
had  rejected,  or  adopted,  any  hypothesis  without  examination.  How 
then  can  you  be  justified  in  a  neglect  of  this  inquiry  ?  It  has  every  thing 
to  rouse  a  generous  curiosity,  to  excite  a  deep  interest,  to  occupy  a  capa- 
cious intellect. 

No  man  who  tliinks,  can  fail  to  observe  much  in  the  scene  of  things 
around  liim,  to  produce  uncertainty  and  disquietude.  Upon  the  stage  of 
life,  men  appear  and  disappear,  with  little  apparent  reason  for  their  com- 
ing or  departure,  beyond  the  continuance  of  a  species,  for  whose  continu- 
emce  no  sufficient  motive  seems  to  exist.  We  find  ourselves  hastening 
on,  Uke  others  who  have  preceded  us,  full  of  hopes,  eager  with  desires  of 
distinction  and  happiness,  and  with  an  ever  increasing  ratio  of  rapidity, 
rushing  through  the  brief  journey  of  life.  Meantime,  we  are  sur- 
rounded by  a  world  containing  almost  infinite  subjects  for  speculation 


17 

and  inquiry;  within,  we  are  conscious  of  powers  to  explore  it~of  a 
desire  of  knowledge,  to  prompt  to  the  research ;  and  we  see  in  it  the 
occupation  for  many  ages  of  all  our  capacities.  Yet  our  existence  here 
is  so  short,  and  even  that  short  period  is  so  distracted  by  the  necessary 
demands  of  our  animal  natm-e,  that  the  whole  seems  incongruous — 
seems  designed  to  disappoint  this  natural  desire  of  knowledge,  and  to 
render  fniitless  those  vast  powers  of  attainment.  What,  then,  is  this 
death,  in  which  our  share  in  this  great  universe  seems  so  soon  to  termi- 
nate ?  does  it  indeed  annul  our  powers,  and  send  them  in  the  very 
infancy  of  their  existence,  into  annihilation  ?  or  does  it  only  transfer  us 
to  other  scenes,  where,  in  some  other  modification,  these  powers  are  to 
exist,  and  find  employment?  If  so,  where?  and  how  ?  In  these  inquiries, 
when  truly  made,  the  heart  is  not  only  interested,  but  anxious.  A  con- 
sciousness of  ill-desert  will  arise  upon  our  thoughts,  and  we  tremble  to 
commit  ourselves  to  Him,  who,  we  feel,  has  a  power  which  none  cmi 
control — a  rightful  authority  wliich  none  can  call  in  question.  Upon 
what  principles,  we  ask,  will  he  exert  liis  power  ?  what  is  liis  character 
and  disposition  ?  Can  we  trace  these  in  liis  works?  Has  he  made  any 
disclosure  of  them  for  our  information  ?  These  inquiries  of  an  anxious 
being,  the  christian  religion  assimies  to  solve.  She  announces  herself  as 
a  messenger  from  Heaven — she  declares  tliat  you  are  inmaortal,  and 
offers  to  you  information  of  the  means  by  which  tliat  immortality  may 
be  rendered  virtuous  and  happy.  She  promises,  upon  the  authority  of 
Heaven,  to  remove  your  fears  most  reasonably  excited  by  a  just  sense  of 
delinquency ;  to  "  confirm  and  strengthen  you  in  all  goodness,  and  to 
bring  you  to  everlasting  life."  Sanctioned  as  her  pretensions  are,  they 
surely  deserve  investigation.  He  who  should  refuse  to  examine  the 
grounds  on  which  the  Newtonian  system  of  the  muverse  depends,  and 
persist  in  the  belief  that  the  eaith  is  a  stationary  plain,  and  the  sun  a 
daily  traveller  over  its  surface,  would  justly  be  considered  irraiional 
and  absurd;  yet  he  who  rejects  Christianity  without  inquiry,  is  a  mad- 
man, compared  with  whom  the  other  may  be  considered  discreet  and 
sober.  Tlie  former  rejects  indeed  a  theory  of  the  universe,  established 
to  all  intelligent  inquirers  upon  sui*e  demonstration  ;  but  it  is  to  him  of 
little  importance :  his  virtue  and  happiness,  here  and  hei-eafter,  may  be 
effectually  seciured  without  the  discovery  or  belief  of  this  system.  The 
latter,  having  every  thing  at  hazard,  madly  resolves  to  take  no  step  for 

3 


18 

securing  it ;  and  when  the  truth  or  fiilseliood  of  this  rehgion  involves 
such  tremendous  consequences,  that  all  other  truths  sink  into  insignifi- 
cance, he  devotes  his  whole  attention  to  the  latter,  and  declines  an  exer- 
tion to  satisfy  himself  of  that  on  which  his  all  may  absolutely  depend. 
One  thmg  is  clear,  the  man  who  adopts  this  conduct  has  little  claim  to 
the  character  of  a  piiilosopher. 

If,  then,  this  inquiry  has  not  already  been  made,  with  the  zeal  and  dili- 
gence which  its  importance  demands,  let  it  now  be  commenced,  and  daily 
prosecuted  to  its  termination  :  for  he  who  has  not  settled  this  question 
for  himself,  is  not  jirepared  either  to  live  or  die.  Be  not  deceived  by  any 
notion  that  your  jiresent  existence  being  indefinite,  the  inquiry  may 
be  safely  postponed.  If  you  were  certain  of  life  (a  certainty  which  can- 
not be  obtained)  the  postponement  would  little  corresjoond  with  the  dic- 
tates of  wisdom.  It  is  evident,  that  those  thmgs  which  are  most  impor- 
tant, should  be  first  attended  to — besides,  in  this  case,  the  jiresent  is  of 
all  seasons  the  most  desirable  for  prosecuting  such  an  inquiry.  When 
you  shall  be  immersed  in  business,  or  devoted  to  pleasure,  neither  the 
opportunity  nor  desire  will  often  recur,  and  but  still  more  rarely,  both 
together  ;  and  it  should  be  remembered,  that  it  is  an  inquiiy  for  wliich 
time  and  thought  and  leisure  are  necessary  ;  and  how  shall  these  be 
commanded  amidst  the  bustle  of  active  life  ?  Act,  then,  with  your  wont- 
ed intelligence,  and  now  commence,  and  vigorously  pixrsue  tliis  most  in- 
teresting investigation.  It  is  a  noble  one ;  it  has  ah-eady  occupied  the 
powers,  and  expanded  the  understandings  of  those  who,  in  moral  and 
physical  science,  are  your  teachers,  and  the  teachers  of  the  world,  and 
with  whom,  it  is  no  disparagement  to  scepticism  to  say,  the  most  ele- 
vated of  her  votaries  cannot  compare.  How  absurd,  how  iDreposterous, 
then,  that  the  young,  the  ignorant  and  the  profane,  should  presume  to 
overlook,  or  contemn  as  unworthy  to  engage  their  attention,  that  science 
which  the  world's  masters  in  knowledge  loved  to  explore  and  honor, 
from  whose  pages  they  drew  the  choicest  intellectual  treasures,  and  by 
whose  precepts  they  sought  for  purity  of  principle,  and  con-ectness  of 
life  and  manners !  To  such  a  puerile  conceit,  such  a  miserable  affecta- 
tion, such  a  base  degradation  of  intellect,  I  flatter  myself  no  one  here 
will  descend. 

But  it  is  not  sufficient,  that  its  proofs  should  be  examined,  and  its  truth 
upon  enlightened  conviction  admitted — Christianity  requires  the  surren- 


19 

ikr  of  ourselves  to  its  autliority.  Tiie  mere  belief  of  its  facts,  however 
clear  and  well  grounded,  is  notliing,  if  that  belief  remain  a  mere  barren 
projtosition  in  the  understanding  ;  a  speculation  only  of  the  intellectual 
man,  arranged  in  the  mind  with  other  truths  of  science.  To  such  a  des- 
tination Christianity  cannot  submit :  her  heavenly  origin  gives  lier  the 
riglit  to  demand  a  loftier  place,  a  profounder  homage.  You  must  realize 
that  the  system  of  our  i-eligion  himiediately  concerns  yom'selves ;  that 
its  teachings,  reproofs,  warnings  and  commands,  are  directed  to  each  one 
of  you  ;  and  that,  as  truly  as  if  the  volume  containing  them,  were  di- 
rectly addressed  to  him  by  name.  Your  belief  must  be  operative  and 
influential — must  tend  towards  the  heart,  and  incline  you  to  regulate 
your  life  by  its  precepts  ;  otherwise,  its  truths  will  no  more  affect  favora- 
bly your  condition,  than  those  of  Algebra  or  Geology. 

I  fear,  my  young  friends,  there  is  something  nearly  akin  to  shame 
associated  with  the  thought  of  thus  acknowledging  Christianity  ;  and 
though  you  are  wilhng,  from  whatever  motive,  to  pay  a  decent  external 
homage  to  a  religion  professed  by  your  countrjmien,  yet  it  is  with  a 
sort  of  protestation,  generally  understood,  sometimes  even  expressed, 
against  its  being  supposed  that  you  take  any  serious  interest  in  its  doc- 
trines or  its  precepts.  I  fear,  that  you  woiUd  look  upon  the  imputation 
to  you  of  serious  piety,  as  a  reproach,  and  the  destination  to  be  a  clrris- 
tian,  as  a  punislmient;  while  you  still  intend,  when  you  leave  the  world, 
in  some  way  by  no  means  accurately  understood,  because  but  slightly 
considered,  to  be  saved  by  the  Christian's  God  ;  to  be  acknowledged  at 
your  utmost  need  by  him,  of  whom,  throughout  life,  you  were  in  truth 
ashamed.  My  friends,  if  there  be  indeed  any  such  feeling  at  your 
liearts,  pluck  the  base  thought  away,  and  remember  that  this  faith  holds 
out  promises,  not  to  modes  of  dying,  but  solely  to  modes  of  life  ;  that 
you  must,  noio,  accejot  or  reject  it,  with  all  the  consequences  wliich  Hea- 
ven has  authoritatively  annexed  to  your  detemimation.  Accept,  I  be- 
seech you,  that  religion  ;  and  now,  even  now,  begin  to  frame  your  lives 
by  its  precepts.  It  will  exert  a  salutary  influence  over  the  whole  moral 
character  ;  what  is  good  will  be  confirmed ;  what  weak,  strengthened  ; 
wliat  evil,  corrected  ;  what  defective,  supplied  :  and  you  will  find  yoiu"- 
selves  thoroughly  furnished  to  every  good  word  and  work. 

The  duty  of  gaining  here,  and  miproving  in  after  life,  the  rudiments  of 
knowledge,  which  I  have,  upon  inferior  motives,  set  before  you,  will. 


20 

under  the  teaching  of  rehgion,  assume  its  true  character  of  higher  con- 
sequence. You  will  see,  in  your  present  opportunities,  the  gifts  of  a 
great  benefactor,  who,  as  a  judge,  will  require  an  account  of  his  benefac- 
tions, and  with  the  most  evident  equity,  demand  improvement  in  propor- 
tion to  your  talents  ;  who,  while  he  graciously  considers  every  benefit 
conferred  upon  your  fellows  by  yoiu*  agency,  as  conferred  upon  himself, 
wUl  likewise  consider  a  disregard  of  what  you  owe  to  yourselves,  to  yom* 
country,  to  your  friends,  as  mgratitude  for  liis  kindness,  and  contempt  of 
his  authority, — and  will  punish  it  accorduigly. 

Chi'istianity  will  step  in  and  shed  her  influence  over  your  duties  as  citi- 
zens ;  she  will  teach  you  submission  to  the  jnowers  that  be,  not  from  the 
fear  of  present  punishment,  or  hope  of  temporal  reward,  but  because  those 
powers  are  ordained  of  Heaven.  Should  you,  at  any  period  of  political 
agitation,  be  pressed  with  ingenious  disquisitions  which  you  may  not  be 
able  to  disentangle  and  refute,  you  will  inquire  to  what  course  of  conduct 
these  disquisitions  are  intended  to  prompt  you ;  and  if  you  find  the 
issue  will  probably  be  either  an  idle  gasconade,  or  armed  resistance  to  the 
laws,  you  will  ask  yourselves,  in  what  part  of  your  religion  is  found  the 
command,  or  the  permission,  thus  to  threaten  or  resist  the  government  of 
your  country  ?  Should  you  be  taunted  with  your  obedience  as  a  degrad- 
ing submission,  you  will  reflect,  that  obedience  is  not  dictated  in  particu- 
lar to  man,  but  is  the  necessary  condition  of  every  virtuous  crealiure  in 
the  universe  j  that  universal  good  can  only  be  secured  by  a  voluntary 
submission  to  every  appomtment  of  Him  who  comprehends  all  events  by 
his  foresight,  provides  for  all  by  liis  wisdom,  and  brings  to  pass  what  he 
determines  by  a  power  which  cannot  be  resisted ;  that  no  such  tiling  as 
a  right  of  capricious  action  can  exist  m  the  universe  ;  that  those,  every- 
where, who  conmiand  others,  if  vu'tuous,  do,  in  the  command  itself,  but 
themselves  obey — that  he  that  sailh  to  one  "  go  and  he  goeth,  and  to  ano- 
ther come  and  he  cometh,  and  to  a  third  do  this  and  he  doeth  it,"  is 
himself,  in  all  tliis,  "  a  man  under  authority" — thai  the  commencement  of 
sin  is  the  first  omission  to  obey  ;  and  that,  wherever  we  are  and  what- 
ever we  do,  whether  we  dispose  of  our  goods  or  our  time,  or  receive  or 
give,  or  repose  or  labor,  or  live  or  die,  we  are  pursued  by  oui-  Creator 
with  the  irresistible  claims  of  a  rightful  authority.  These  reflections  will 
not  only  put  to  flight  tliis  suggestion  of  disgrace  :  they  will  do  more  ; 
they  will  teach  you  the  honor  of  obedience.    Raising  your  contempla- 


21 

lions  upwards,  you  will  perceive  myriads  of  intelligent  beings  of  diversi- 
fied gifts  and  attainments — all  happy  and  glorious,  and  possessing  this 
character  solely  from  the  principle  of  unlimited  obedience — and  you  will 
see  it  as  a  necessary  truth,  that  this  happiness  and  glory  must  cease  with 
tliis  obedience.  Your  hearts  will  glow,  while  you  contemplate  this  glo- 
rious assemblage  continually  tending,  in  moral  and  intellectual  beauty, 
towards  that  infinite  perfection,  which  they  cannot  either  reach  or  ap- 
jjroach  unto,  brightening  more  and  more  throughout  the  ages  of  eternity 
with  ever  increasing  splendor  and  vu-tue  ;  while,  immeasurably  above 
them,  remains  forever  the  eternal  source  of  glory  and  happiness,  shed- 
ding abroad  of  its  fulness  upon  the  universe,  and  sjjringing  up  in  them  to 
eternal  life. 

If  these  thoughts  were  often  in  our  minds,  and  had  a  resting  place  in 
cm-  hearts,  how  would  oiu'  jDride  be  rebuked,  that  fruitful  source  of  all 
Our  ills  !  We  should  feel,  that  obedience  only  is  suitable  and  safe  for 
us — we  should  desire  to  obey,  and  when  the  heart  is.  once  engaged  in  be- 
half of  duty,  cavils  have  lost  their  power. 

Under  the  influence  of  this  principle,  you  will  commence  the  com-se  of 
obedience  and  true  honor,  here,  in  your  days  of  jjupilage.  You  will  be 
punctual  in  yom-  observance  of  every  regulation  of  the  college,  every  in- 
jmiction  of  your  directors — nothing  will  be  too  difficult  to  be  performed, 
notliing  so  minute  as  to  be  forgotten.  This  noble  habit  you  will  carry  with 
you  into  the  active  business  of  life.  There  you  will  daily  learn  wisdom  and 
practise  virtue — will  both  adorn  and  dignify  every  relation  you  may  bear 
in  public  and  domestic  life  ;  and  death  will  only  transfer  you  to  a  higher 
scene,  where  the  virtuous  princii^les,  the  cultivation  of  which  will  have 
been  here  commenced,  shall  be  prosecuted  with  nobler  powers  and  com- 
plete success,  and  where  the  day  of  eternity  shall  see  you  at  once  glori- 
ous and  hmiible,  obedient  and  happy  forever. 


